


Learning The Ropes

by scoutergreen



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 05:57:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15679386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scoutergreen/pseuds/scoutergreen
Summary: During a three week shore leave, nineteen year old Vegeta boldly experiments with the fast lifestyle many of his comrades, including Raditz and Nappa, indulge in during their time off. But the cocky and inexperienced Vegeta may be in for more than he bargained for.





	1. Chapter 1

Learning The Ropes

Chapter 1

Welcome Home

 

 

 

 

Re-work of an old fic. Uh, enjoy? 

-

The soft hissing and clicking of an awakening communications system was the first sound Vegeta perceived as he came out of stasis. He'd been asleep for a month by that point, long enough to guarantee a few days of lingering fatigue, but not long enough to leave him feeling terribly stiff.

He heard a yawn through his scouter, and in turn found himself yawning as he became more aware of his surroundings.

"Wakey, wakey," a deep grumbling voice said, "we're almost home. Oh, and happy birthday, Vegeta."

"Mm," Vegeta involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut as the cabin of his pod lit up, "I forgot about that. Raditz, what's our ETA?"

Several seconds passed before Vegeta heard Raditz grumble down the scouter. "Ugh, stasis hangover... um, lessee... 'bout twenty five minutes. We're about to re-enter. We should be hearing from the landing crew any minute now."

Vegeta yawned again, stretched as best he could while remaining seated, and scratched the back of his neck. "Good. I need to take a shower."

An outside signal filled each pod with a shrill buzz, followed by five seconds of loud static. "Welcome home, boys," somebody at the landing pad spoke to the three Saiyans, "all clear for landing. Pod A-659, please buckle your harness- I see here that you're unsecured in your seat."

"Yeah, yeah," Raditz voice came through, followed by the click of a buckle, "we're good now. What's the weather like down there?"

"Very hot and rainy. I'll see you three shortly. Please be advised that Zarbon will be waiting for you upon arrival."

"Oh, god damn it," Vegeta snarled, "fine. Thank you. See you soon."

The landing was "text book", as the pod mechanics liked to call it; fast and relatively comfortable, all things considered. Vegeta was first to exit his pod, practically pushing open the door with his feet to make its hissing hydraulic system go faster, while Raditz was more than content to let his pod door fully open before he even bothered to unbuckle the safety harness.

"You three," Zarbon's low voice dripped with contempt as he approached the three Saiyans waiting for him, and his narrow nose crinkled with disgust when he caught their collective body odour, "decontamination, then debriefing. Now!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Vegeta pulled off his scouter and followed Zarbon down the huge corridor leading into the massive base.

"Yeah, Zarbon," Raditz sneered at the green alien, "Vegeta doesn't need to be told twice. He was bitching about needing a shower the whole way home."

Vegeta stopped, turned around, and punched Raditz in the arm. "I was not! Stop exaggerating!"

Nappa merely laughed and gave Zarbon a knowing nod, to which Zarbon silently replied by rolling his eyes.

-

"Ah! Damn it, too hot, too hot!" Raditz shrieked when a jet of water hit his back, followed by another jet of decontamination gel.

"Shut up and get to it," Vegeta furiously scrubbed his scalp, "it'll be over in another two minutes!" A jet of hot water hit the back of his neck and he yelped. "Fuck, that's too hot! Turn it down!"

The water suddenly went lukewarm and then cool, causing Raditz and Nappa to yell again while Vegeta continued to scrub down. After a minute of cool water, the temperature quickly rose back to uncomfortably hot before the timer buzzed and the water jets stopped completely.

I am going to kick that technician's ass, thought Vegeta as he collected a fresh towel and headed into the adjacent change room.

While drying off, Vegeta noticed a red mark on the very centre of his chin and looked in the mirror to inspect. He had another pimple, this one very swollen after the hot shower, and he experimentally squeezed it between his index fingers. It popped under the pressure and pus splattered across the mirror.

Raditz cackled at the sight before focusing his attention on his new clothing. So far he had a fresh change of bottoms, boots, and bracers, but there was no top or armour to be found, and none of the machines seemed to be retrieving items in his size. He watched with some anxiety as his comrades shimmied into their new clothing and armour, before shrugging. "Fuck it," he pulled on the shorts, "I'm going topless."

"Oh, I'm sure Zarbon's gonna like that," Nappa sneered, "weren't you carrying something in your armour?"

"It's the dumbest shit," Raditz unrolled one of the bands on his bicep and pulled his hair back, "I lost my pod's remote at some point."

Nappa gave the younger Saiyan an uninterested grunt. "C'mon, we have to debrief."

As Vegeta left the change room to catch up with his comrades, he spotted two small brown vials under the bench where Raditz had just been sitting. He picked them up, put them in his pocket, and went to debrief with Zarbon.

-

"It is very unbecoming of Planet Trade Organization members to walk around half-naked in front of their superiors, Raditz," Zarbon shot Raditz a cold look, "you aren't on vacation quite yet, Saiyan."

"Don't blame me, blame the machine that ain't giving me half my fuckin' clothes! Besides, it's goddamn hot!"

"I'm not here to argue about this, Raditz. I've reviewed all three of your logs and periodic reports. All in all, I suppose you can consider it a job well done, although Lord Freiza isn't impressed that you took almost an entire year to completely purge the planet. Your pay has been approved and deposited into your account."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hang on," Vegeta raised a hand, "with travel time factored in, we took a little over ten months. We completed our mission in eight months, and that is not the same as a year."

"Better clean that blood off your chin, Vegeta," Zarbon was not interested in Vegeta's argument.

Automatically, Vegeta touched the spot on his chin and saw a bit of blood transfer onto his gloved fingertip. "That's not the point, Zarbon. How fair is it to factor in our travel time here? A year is not the same as eight months, and you know that to be true!"

"Are you challenging me, or perhaps challenging Lord Frieza? Because I'm sure he'd be just thrilled to hear your arguing and complaining! Shall I call him? He's off-planet right now, but if the situation requires it, I'm certain that Lord Frieza would return just for you. Lord Frieza wants you to work faster, understand?"

"Understood," both Raditz and Nappa replied quietly, avoiding Zarbon's eyes. Vegeta tilted his head up when Zarbon returned his gaze to the Saiyan and finally said: "Understood."

"Nappa, allow me to congratulate you on keeping the two idiots you work with in relative check, yet again. Their arguments were quite interesting to listen to, that is, when they weren't howling like senseless animals. I don't know how you do it."

"Eh, it's easier than you think," Nappa smirked.

"Raditz, you need to spend less time trying to determine what sort of plants are growing on a planet you're assigned to raze, understood?"

Raditz shrugged. "I guess I can do that. But what if something interesting is discovered?"

"That's what the first wave of exploratory soldiers is for. You know that, Raditz, so please stop being coy with me. I'm really not in the mood for it. I suppose that's everything, then-"

"Already out of things to complain about, Zarbon?" Vegeta folded his arms across his chest and smirked while his two comrades held their breath in horrified anticipation.

Vegeta didn't even have time to see Zarbon's fist coming for his face, and after several seconds of intense ringing in his ears Vegeta realized he was flat on the ground. He pulled himself up to his feet and rubbed his cheek. Well, his smirk begged Zarbon, what are you going to do now?

"Get out of my sight, Saiyan. And Vegeta," Zarbon returned the smirk, "don't compromise the marginal amount of attractiveness you might possess underneath that acne by picking your face."

-

The rains hadn't let up when the trio arrived at their apartment on the forty-ninth floor of Tamarai Tower, and Raditz stopped over a potted plant in the lobby and squeezed out his massive ponytail.

"Ah, Sir? Can you please not do that?" A tiny blue man with two white horns above his ears leaned over the concierge desk and furrowed his brow at the huge Saiyan.

"Fuck you," Raditz stood back to his full height and kept walking toward the elevator. Vegeta followed behind, giggling at the exchange.

-

Ravenous, Vegeta tore into the first slab of barely-cooked meat atop the pile the three had ordered, humming with satisfaction when he tasted blood mingled with pungent seasoning.

The three didn't speak for a long time as they sat at their low dining table, which nearly groaned under the tremendous weight of all the food they had called for; slabs of dark red meat specifically ordered "bloody", deep-fried wings and legs of gamey-tasting birds, an assortment of fish from the planet's oceans both cooked and raw, endless thick discs of hot flatbread, fruits in a rainbow of colours, piles of cool green leaves, and spicy fermented vegetables, all of it washed down with beer and wine.

"Oh, that's so much better," Raditz lay on his back and picked his teeth, "we really got shit rations this time around, didn't we?"

"At least the locals were tasty," Nappa suggested, breaking open an oblong pink fruit to reveal an interior crammed full of white seeds encased by clear pods of juice.

"Yes, and very lean," Vegeta replied, scowling at the memory of the thin, mild-tasting white flesh he'd relied on to supplement his diet, "my goal on this shore leave is to get fat. Next mission, I'm going to leave this planet with a double chin and fat gut."

Raditz cackled and sat up. "Double chin, hm? What are you going to do, eat solid blocks of fat?"

Vegeta choked on his wine, both disgusted and amused by the mental image the older Saiyan had planted in his head. "No, I'm going to eat lots of deep fried food and sleep nine hours a day. Kind of like you, Raditz!"

"Yes, and you'll also train obsessively and not gain a fucking ounce like usual," Raditz was quick to shoot down Vegeta's convoluted plan, "why don't you actually, like, unwind for once? Come on, Vegeta, you just turned nineteen! Where's your sense of adventure? Your desire? I mean, your routine is so, well, routine, that I can always tell where you're gonna be and exactly when you're gonna be there. God, you're so damn boring, Vegeta!"

"I am not!" Vegeta drained his wine glass and filled it to the brim before taking three long gulps.

"I think Vegeta's showing us just how much of a partier he really is, Raditz," suggested Nappa.

"Ooh, if he continues on like that, the Saiyan prince just might fall into a light nap," Raditz sneered. Nappa laughed as Vegeta growled, his tail thumping hard against the floor.

Vegeta filled his half-glass of wine back to the top and rose from the table. "Fuck you guys. I'm taking a bath."

Raditz dissolved into laughter as Vegeta stormed down the hall, and called out: "don't forget to pace yourself, Vegeta! You might overdo it! Nappa, how do we keep up with such a savage?"

The door to Vegeta's bedroom slammed and the two elder Saiyans really started laughing.

-

Vegeta waited for the tub to fill three quarters of the way to the top before he closed the tap. He silently fumed in his large en-suite bathroom, his irritation with the thumping electronic music coming from the front room growing steadily.

He started to underdress, and when his fingers brushed against the two vials he'd stuffed into his armour's pocket, he stopped for a moment, wondering about their contents, before pulling them out and placing them on the marble vanity.

Clothes neatly folded and placed atop a low shelf, Vegeta returned to the vanity and inspected the vials. They both seemed to be full; one with a powder and the other with a viscous liquid. Curious, Vegeta twisted open the vial full of powder and dumped the contents on the counter. It was light yellow, produced no strong smell, and seemed almost powdery between his fingertips. Experimentally, Vegeta brought a fingertip to his tongue to taste, taken aback by its bitter, medicinal taste.

Seconds later, his tongue went numb. Hmm, I'd better find out what this really is. It could be deworming powder for all I know.

Vegeta scarcely had twenty minutes to himself before Raditz barged in, drunk enough to have a flushed face and a goofy grin. "Damn it! What do you want, Raditz?"

"Hellll-LO," Raditz punched the second syllable of his greeting, "what's all this, now?" He immediately focused his attention on the pile of powder beside the sink.

"I was hoping you might know," Vegeta drained his glass and rolled over in the tub to watch Raditz, "I tasted a little and it's bitter and made my tongue go numb."

Vegeta spotted Raditz' growing grin in the mirror and wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad sign. "Where did you get this, Vegeta?"

"Bought it before the mission."

"Sure you did. I bet this came from my own supply, you crafty little thief. You mind if a cut a few lines?"

"Cut a few what?"

Raditz groaned. "You are so fucking naive..." he exited the bathroom. Vegeta heard Raditz rummaging through his drawers for a minute before he returned to the bathroom with an expired payment card and a scrap of paper. He chopped through the powder with the card for a few minutes before dividing it into five smaller piles. He dragged one pile away from the others, spent another minute chopping it, and then formed five skinny lines of powder. He set the card aside, rolled the paper into a tube, bent over the pile and used the paper tube to snort one line into each nostril.

Vegeta was a bit awestruck by the whole scene. Raditz knew what he was going, and as he rose to his full height he squeezed his nostrils shut and sighed. "Stings for a second. Get out and try it, Vegeta. You'll like it."

Without thinking, Vegeta did get out, wrapped a towel around his waist, and mimicked Raditz' actions.

"Ah!" He squeezed his eyes shut as a burning sensation went up his nostrils. Moments later, the numbness set in, far more powerful this time. "Whoa," Vegeta looked up at Raditz with his mouth open in awe, "am I supposed to have numb teeth?"

Raditz nodded and sucked his teeth in response.

The two hung out there for twenty minutes, Raditz talking very quickly about nothing in particular while Vegeta rubbed the spot where his face had just been aching from Zarbon's punch.

"You still not interested in going out, Vegeta?" Raditz snorted the final line before immediately cutting another small pile.

"Maybe I'll go," Vegeta had lost the towel and sat naked on the edge of the tub, feeling his heart pounding like he'd been running, "it sounds like it might be an amusement. At least for a few hours, anyway."

"Say, Vegeta," Raditz rose from snorting his second line, "now that you're getting older, you're getting pretty interested in sex, aren't you? Well, at least I hope you are."

"Uh," Vegeta stammered, "I guess so. Give me that," he took the paper tube from Raditz and snorted another two lines, "cantsayIreallythinkaboutit..."

Raditz barked a short laugh at Vegeta. "Yeah, honestly, I kind of believe you. Are you, you know, asexual?"

"Gross."

"If you ever have any... questions," Raditz sneered, "come see me. I saw you a few nights ago behind the trees at our final campsite, that's all. I figured if you're doing that on the regular, you're probably eager to do more."

Vegeta wasn't sure if the drugs were responsible for the cold feeling that erupted in his gut, but his happy buzz suddenly took a very pissed off turn. "What did you say, Raditz?"

"I saw you jerking off, Vegeta. It's not that big a dea-"

Vegeta pulled Raditz down to his height by two fistfuls of hair until they were nose to nose, and through clenched teeth he snarled: "you need to mind your own business, you fucking pervert. What I was doing is none of your concern! Now get the fuck out!" He pushed Raditz away, swept the remaining piles of powder into the sink, and turned on the tap.

"Vegeta, you fuck! Why did you do that?!"

"Get the fuck out, Raditz!"

Raditz stormed out of the room, yelling at Nappa to get ready to leave.

-

Fully dressed in his armour, Vegeta secured his red lightweight cape and left the apartment, the numbness in his face wearing off but his anger still simmering. He stormed through the lobby and out the tall automatic doors, growling when heavy drops of rain hit his scalp.  

He headed eastbound for almost eight blocks before stopping at a short grey building. It was the closest training centre, and it also featured a series of healing pools. Vegeta usually went into the muscle recovery pool or occasionally the relaxation pool when he had an episode of insomnia, but tonight he wanted to push out all the chemicals he'd ingested as quickly as possible.

"Fucking Raditz," he spat as he entered, "nothing a soak in the detoxification pool can't fix..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

* * *

Vegeta had slept soundly after a forty minute soak in a detoxification pool, feeling increasingly relaxed and tired as he'd walked through in the heavy rain, quietly made his way up to the empty apartment, and went straight to bed.

He'd even slept through whatever carnage his two comrades had brought back with them, something that didn't frequently happen as Vegeta was the lightest sleeper of the trio.

The young Saiyan awoke feeling quite alert and he wasted no time dressing and mentally planning his day. The sun was out and it was going to be a hot day, ideal conditions for Vegeta's favourite leisure activity: sunbathing.

First thing I'm going to do is eat something decent for breakfast, he thought, empty stomach rumbling as he strode confidently down the hallway, only for his train of thought to come to a screeching halt as he entered a completely filthy kitchen.

Dozens of empty beer and liquor bottles crowded the counters alongside empty take-away containers, junk food wrappers, fruit peels and cores, a random brassiere made of sheer gold fabric, and a red scouter that certainly did not belong to any of the three Saiyans.

Vegeta walked into the living area, finding it in pretty much the same condition, Raditz passed out on the large couch with a curvaceous nude woman laying on top of him. One of their tall lamps had been knocked over and smashed, two large paintings had been pulled off the walls and their canvases slashed, while the low table set in the middle of their seating area had been turned into a receptacle for more bottles, wrappers, and burned-out cigarettes.

"You have to be kidding me," Vegeta returned to the kitchen and surveyed the chaos one more time, "how did those two cretins do this in a single night? Raditz! Nappa! Both of you need to get in here, now!"

A minute passed before a grunt came from the living room, followed by two muttering voices and somebody knocking over more empty bottles. Raditz came staggering into the kitchen, his eyes red and mouth dry, and he rubbed his forehead.

"Ohmygooooooooood," he groaned, "what is it now, Vegeta?" He shuffled over to the sink, bent over and proceeded to drink directly from the tap.

Nappa gagged and rushed to the fridge in search of a cool beverage. He found a tall bottle of a light pink liquid, cracked its seal, and took a small taste to see if his body would reject it. When it stayed down, he took a long sip before finally closing the refrigerator door and moving to the wall to lean against it. "Yes, Vegeta? What now?"

"How dare you "what now" me, Nappa! What now? More like, what the fuck happened in here? Where is all the food? Why is the lamp smashed up? Who the fuck ruined the two paintings I bought?!"

"Dude, we had like, nine people here," Raditz finally turned off the tap, "honestly, I'm amazed you didn't come out and start screaming at us. Shit got a little crazy after a while, but I kicked most of 'em out."

"That doesn't explain why a bunch of shit is broken, Raditz!"

Nappa took another sip of his drink. "You were sleeping, Vegeta? I thought you'd gone off to train or something."

Now Vegeta would scream. "Will one of you two morons answer my question?!"

"Like I said, Vegeta," Raditz swept several bottles to the side in order to make room on the counter, "we had a bunch of people over. Somebody got stupid and smashed some shit up. It's not like we can't replace it. C'mon, just call a cleaning service."

"You call the cleaning service, Raditz! Look at this shit!"

Nappa finished his recovery drink. "I think you're overreacting, Vegeta."

"I think you two idiots are under-reacting because your senses are so dulled from your incessant partying. I'm going out for breakfast, and when I get back, this fucking apartment better be clean!"

Vegeta stormed out, and as the automatic door in the entryway hissed shut, he caught a light feminine voice asking what all the commotion was about.

The small restaurant across the road from the apartment served a fine breakfast, and over the years it had become Vegeta's preferred place to eat. The food was consistently delicious and the servers knew Vegeta well enough to understand he wanted a quiet table and no unnecessary conversation.

"Good to see ya back, hun," a tall waitress with bright yellow skin and six green eyes approached Vegeta's table, "you want your usual, or something else?"

"Give me a menu," Vegeta held his hand out but did not look at the waitress, "and another three minutes."

The waitress gave Vegeta his space, mouthing "he's back" at her fellow workers with a slight smirk. When she returned, the young man was sitting silently with his hands resting folded atop the menu and his eyes shut.

He handed the menu back and finally looked up at the waitress. "I want what I always order, but add three extra portions of cured meat, a double portion of sweet noodles with hot broth, and whatever sort of beverage can even my mood out."

"Alcoholic?"

"It's morning..." his expression gave away his disbelief.

"Hmm. I can recommend infused water. We have a blend called "relax". I think you'll like it."

"Fine, I'll try that."

The waitress returned ten minutes later with Vegeta's preferred breakfast: four very large eggs boiled in their shells, large insects cooked with pungent vegetables in oil, cured meats, baked fish, fresh fruit, and a huge bowl of soft white noodles served in a rich, hot broth.

The infused water was served in a tall glass pitcher, meant to be sipped from a small glass over the course of a long meal. Vegeta was on his third glass and getting ready to crack open his final egg when he spotted his two comrades coming through the entrance.

"Oh, god damn it," he muttered, "don't sit down with me..."

"Hey, look! It's Vegeta," Raditz poked Nappa and pointed to the visibly upset Saiyan, "mind if we pop a squat, comrade?"

"Ugh," Vegeta barely had time to groan before Raditz had taken the seat across from his while Nappa pulled up another chair, effectively crowding the three around a relatively small table.

"They're cleaning over there," Nappa motioned with his head in the general direction of their building, "said it'll be a couple of hours."

"Fine, whatever. What do you two want, anyway?"

"He's hungry, and I'm not," Raditz poked Nappa again, "so we're here," the Saiyan lifted his arm up and waved at a waitress, "can I get some service some time this year?"

Vegeta rubbed his temples and sighed as the waitress approached. "Anything else here?"

"Gimme a beer. Whaddya want, Nappa?"

Nappa pointed at Vegeta's meal. "Whatever this guy is having, I'd like it too. Minus the water. I'll have beer too."

Vegeta resisted the urge to slide down his chair and under the table. "I'm impressed you two actually left the apartment- I figured you were too hung over to do that. Raditz, what happened to that woman?"

"Oh, her? I kicked her out," Raditz shrugged, "though I might call her up tonight."

"Charming," Vegeta took another sip of his cool, slightly sweet water, "and how exactly do you meet all these, ah, women?"

The waitress returned with two large glasses of beer and exchanged a look of mutual irritation with Vegeta.

"It's simple, really," Raditz paused to take a long sip of beer, "you dangle the meat long enough and sooner or later you'll attract a carnivore. And maaaan, did she ever have an appetite!"

Nappa laughed and clanged glasses with Radtiz' while Vegeta groaned. Suddenly he wasn't so hungry any more. He pushed his plate over to Nappa's spot and finished another small glass of water. I'm going to finish this water and then leave, he thought, and I will pay the bill and reward that waitress for putting up with these morons.

"So, Vegeta. You have to come out with us tonight. Like, absolutely must." Raditz was already halfway finished his beer.

"No," Vegeta filled his glass, "no way in hell. I'd rather chew my arm off."

"But you just turned nineteen, you little baby! Aren't you even a little bit interested in the world beyond training centres, our apartment, and the fucking market? You don't do anything fun, Vegeta! Let loose for once in your miserable life!"

Vegeta finished another glass of water. It wasn't working. "No."

"We'll buy your drinks," Nappa offered, "and anything you wanna eat, too."

The young Saiyan sighed. "No."

"I'll buy you an hour with a hooker," Raditz upped the offer (at least in his mind) and finished his beer.

"Really?" Vegeta looked up from his glass in surprise.

"Nah," Raditz laughed, "but I will totally buy your drinks and introduce you to some chicks. C'mon, birthday boy, let's celebrate! You're a fucking adult!"

"He's been one for five years under PTO law," Nappa smirked, "what are you on about?"

"Shut up, Nappa," Raditz flagged the waitress again, "don't step on my persuasion game."

Vegeta threw up his hands in defeat. "Your game is weak, Raditz. However, I will go out tonight if it will actually shut you two up for a little while. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to leave before your presence completely sets off my homicidal urges. Consider your meals paid for."

Vegeta left, paid for the meals at the counter, told the waitress to take an extra forty credits for herself, and left the restaurant in a furious rush.

  
Muscles screaming after a gruelling five hour training session, Vegeta eased himself into the deep recovery pool and found a perfect seat. He soaked and felt his aches fading away, while his tail uncurled and became completely relaxed.

"Room for one more?" A friendly-sounding voice with a twangy accent hit Vegeta's ears uncomfortably hard.

Vegeta felt his eyes peel open and he grunted. "Sure," he caught bright red skin and realized it was Jeice, the newest member of the Ginyu Force.

Ah damn it, he swallowed, there's no way this won't be awkward...

"What a ripper last night," Jeice eased back into a seat across from Vegeta, "heard you missed a big fun night!"

Vegeta was desperate to redirect the conversation into a more sophisticated vein. "Did you just get back in?"

"Nah, mate, 'been home for close to a month. Got another three weeks left, too."

The Saiyan's tail visibly whipped in the water. "Really? How long was your mission?"

"Eh, ten months, I guess? Not counting travel, of course, 'bout five weeks one way there."

Vegeta's tail whipped again.

"Y'alright there, mate?"

The Saiyan grabbed the base of his tail and squirmed. "Yeah, uh, I broke it during the mission. I'm just, uh, testing its range of motion."

"Mm, right. So, Raditz is a fun bloke."

"I'm presuming he made a complete ass of himself?"

"Nah, he's alright. Knows how to have a laugh, that's for sure. At one point he was dancing on a bloody speaker!"

Vegeta groaned and splashed water on his face. "Very inconspicuous. How does he avoid trouble?"

"Look mate, if you're built like a brick shit house and have hair like that, you're gonna stand out. He's making the best of it and is easy to get on with. You could learn a thing or two about sociability from him."

"Ugh. Well, I guess dancing on a speaker isn't too bad. Just dumb."

Jeice laughed. "Mate, he was hangin' upside-down from the bloody rafters at one point, givin' people high-altitude shots! It was amazing! I caught one too- he's not a stingy server either."

Having had more than enough, Vegeta pushed himself out of the pool. "Okay, I'm good. Thank you for sufficiently mortifying me, Jeice."

"Any time, mate!"

On his walk home from the training centre, Vegeta stopped at an open market and searched for good things to eat, completely ravenous after hours of training without something sufficient to eat beforehand. He purchased a cheap cloth bag from a gate attendant and wandered about, haggling over a very large roll of cured red meat still in its original casing, plenty of fruit, and three bottles of sweet pale wine.

Still more than a kilometre from home, Vegeta's stomach contracted in hunger with such force that he grunted and had to stop in the street. He stopped at a food stall, purchased a dozen fist-sized balls of fish and pungent greens fried in dough, stayed long enough to douse the inside of the waxy paper bag with spicy oil, flakes of dried salted fish, and fresh cooling herbs, and continued home, stopping every once in a while to eat.

All the while, Jeice's relatively goodhearted (he thought) teasing kept ringing in Vegeta's head. Maybe I do need to be more sociable, he thought, and Raditz wasn't exactly wrong about my predictable schedule. I am nineteen, so I can get into some of the bigger establishments.

"Oh, what the hell," he muttered, "I'll do it..."

Raditz cut a thick slice off the round of cured meat and ate before speaking. "Are you really, truly, seriously going to go out with us?"

"Stop eating my food!" Vegeta couldn't believe how much Raditz apparently considered a "little slice". He hadn't even finished unwrapping the meat before Raditz practically sauntered into the kitchen and hummed at the sight of the food. "I said I'll go, didn't I?"

"Oh man, do I have plans for you! I sure am glad you got this meat, but you should have bought more of this fish balls. Those smelled delicious. Wait, I know, we'll order some!"

This is going to be a long night, thought Vegeta, but at least Raditz likes the same food as me...

Raditz switched the huge television screen before them to its communication screen and selected a popular restaurant from a long list of contacts. After a long connection tone and a dark blue waiting screen, the screen displayed a harried looking server with eight eyes and visible fangs.

"Hey, how's it going? Um, can I get eight dozen fried fish balls? With lots of hot oil and toppings on the side."

The server's eight eyes bulged open. "Come again? Eight dozen?"

"Yeah, can you do it?"

"Sir, are you aware of how many eight doz-"

"Ninety six! Holy shit, man, I'm not stupid! Is it possible or not?"

"Of course, of course! I am very sorry, sir, please forgive me!"

"Wait, nine dozen- that's one hundred and eight- with lots of toppings on the side. That's all."

The server punched in the order and recorded the customer information on his screen. "Give us thirty minutes, please. Thank you."

Vegeta stared at Raditz in disbelief. "Are you fucking serious, Raditz? How are we going to eat all of those? Even with Nappa..."

"They're gonna go down real easy in about an hour, trust me, Vegeta," Raditz went over to the refrigerator and pulled out two large bottles of beer and a bottle of a very dark brown liquid, "a Saiyan's appetite is even more colossal when alcohol is consumed."

Vegeta took a bottle of beer and twisted the cap off. "You know I'm wary about tonight," he said, "I'm trusting you not to do anything completely insane."

"Shh, you're in good hands, I swear," Raditz set his unopened beer on the counter, "now, have a shot of this. You'll really like this..." 


	3. Chapter 3

Learning The Ropes

* * *

 

No sooner had Vegeta swallowed the shot of the dark brown liquid that had been offered to him did Raditz start cackling. Vegeta resisted screaming at the terrible taste, instead slamming the large shot glass on the countertop.

"Ugh! What did you give me, Raditz? It tastes like dead plants!"

"You're about to get so fucking stoned, Vegeta. It is plant matter, actually, in a high volume alcohol suspension. Friend of mine makes it herself."

Vegeta was not impressed. "Okay, but that doesn't explain what it is..."

"Dude, it's some herbal blend this chick I know makes. Psycho-fucking-active herbs. The stuff she makes is really mellow and makes you feel great. She's pretty cool too, you know... all into that mystical nature-mother thing... long skirts and skimpy little tops that show off her perky tits..."

"Ugh, it's even sticking to my teeth..." the young Saiyan loudly sucked his teeth, "what exactly is this going to do to me?"

Raditz shrugged. "Quit overthinking this. You'll get a good body stone for a few hours. Let's just chill out and wait for the delivery to arrive, alright?"

What exactly does he mean by body stone, the young Saiyan wondered, he doesn't seem to care that I really don't know how to do, uh, this partying thing they all do...

An hour later, into his sixteenth fish ball, Vegeta felt like every nerve in his body had been wrapped in its own warm, plush blanket. The cushion which he sat upon became ten feet deep and held him aloft, and his eyelids felt very heavy. Had the television always been on? What exactly had he been watching, anyway?

I think this is what Raditz means by getting stoned...

"Raditz, this feels so..." Vegeta set the scrap of food he had in his hand down and leaned back until his back hit the seat behind him, "so weird..."

Raditz looked away from the television screen and smirked at Vegeta. "This is priceless," Raditz snickered, "look at you! Dude, you should see your eyes."

Vegeta cracked up. "How do I see my own eyes? I'm using them to, ah, see..."

"With this, genius," Raditz reached into the table drawer and pulled out a small rectangular mirror, "look at yourself."

Vegeta stared at his reflection and burst into loud peals of laughter. "Oh my god! Is that what I really look like?"

Raditz could only laugh at Vegeta's situation.

 

Another two hours passed before Vegeta felt a bit more connected with his body, at which time Raditz had set about mixing a large pitcher of a carbonated water with a very potent liquor distilled from fruit. Nappa passed through the kitchen, quickly realized what the two were up to, and said he was off to gamble.

"Here," Raditz set a drink in Vegeta's hands, "I figure we can head out in a couple more hours."

"Aren't the clubs open now, Raditz?" Vegeta inspected his glass and took an experimental sip. Whatever it was, it was very good.

"Dude, the only people who show up at a club early in the night are lameasses who don't know better, or dealers making their rounds."

Vegeta finished half his glass. He hadn't really realized just how thirsty he was. "Dealers?"

"Drug dealers," Raditz topped up Vegeta's glass, "they either drop by to stock up the bar, so to speak, or they use the club as an exchange spot for bigger deals."

Vegeta took another long sip. "And you know this, how?"

Raditz rolled his eyes and scoffed at Vegeta. "Holy shit, Vegeta. You're either way more naive than I ever imagined, or you are incredibly high and can't hold a conversation. You remember that mission where we basically sat in the ship's cargo hold for six weeks, guarding those crates?"

"Hmm, that was about three years ago..."

"Yeah, we were moving drugs to a planet to be distributed. You remained at the ship while Nappa and I actually completed the transaction, and you know where we did that? A fucking nightclub!"

"Shit, I remember that! You guys took eleven hours to complete something that should have taken two! I was pissed- hell, I still am."

Raditz laughed again, equally callous and amused. "Life is tough, Vegeta. But tonight, we're going to have fun! Now," Raditz reached into a pocket and pulled out a small bundle of what looked like paper, "take one of these with me. They'll take about ninety minutes to hit, and when they do, we'll head out."

The Saiyan unwrapped the bundle to reveal two crude-looking hot pink pills, placed one on the tip of his tongue, and pulled Vegeta close to deeply kiss him, forcing his tongue into the younger Saiyan's mouth and leaving the melting pill in his mouth when they parted.

Breathless and with shivers running up and down his spine, Vegeta swallowed the pill. He wanted to do that again.

-

His heart pounding like he'd just run several miles, Vegeta practically bounced in place as the underground train he'd boarded with Raditz pulled out of the station and barrelled through dark tunnels on its way to their destination.

"Chew this," Raditz passed a piece of sweet gum to the young Saiyan, "you're grinding the fuck out of your jaw right now."

Vegeta put the gum in his mouth and found it did provide a decent barrier for his teeth. "Is this normal?"

"Yeah," Raditz smacked his own gum, "you'll be fine."

There were three stops before their destination, according to Raditz, and Vegeta grew increasingly fascinated by the whizzing lights and glowing panels of advertisements at each stop. He jumped when Raditz grabbed him to get off the train, and the young Saiyan almost felt a bit sad that he'd been forced to leave such a lovely train.

It was threatening to rain when Raditz and Vegeta made it to the growing lineup outside the club Raditz wanted to visit, and Vegeta watched the clouds with a growing smile on his face.

"Hey," Raditz sized up the huge orange-skinned bouncer at the door, "good crowd tonight, or nah?"

"Who's the kid, Raditz?" The bouncer didn't look terribly impressed by Vegeta, who was fixated on the beauty in a neon green sign mounted on an adjacent apartment building.

"This is Vegeta," Raditz gently rubbed Vegeta's neck to get his attention, "he's cool- just young and inexperienced. He's with me tonight."

The bouncer sized Vegeta up. He was tiny and compact, very young, and obviously on drugs, and the bouncer wasn't ignorant to Vegeta's reputation. He'd never seen the young Saiyan out on the nightclub circuit, but he'd heard plenty about his viciousness, and the last thing he needed was one of those nasty-by-nature Saiyans on a drug-fuelled rampage. "That a fact? He looks like a kid. Why should I let him in, Raditz? Hell, why should I let you in?"

The elder Saiyan rolled his eyes and gave the bouncer a charming smile. "C'mon," Raditz reached into a pocket and extracted two large hand-rolled cigarettes, "a little smoke for when you go on break?"

"Nothing crazy, alright?" The bouncer pocketed the cigarettes and turned his gaze to Vegeta, "and you, keep your cool."

Vegeta smacked his gum and grinned at the bouncer. "I'm cool..."

The bouncer waved them through a cavernous, dark entrance, and Vegeta started swaying his hips to the pounding bass line that grew stronger with each step he took.

Another huge bouncer eyed them up and down, bumped his fist against Raditz', and pulled open a huge door. Vegeta's eyes grew wide with amazement as he took in the sight of the enormous nightclub; it was a raw, open space, with twenty foot ceilings, suspended catwalks surrounding the perimeter of the club, endless spinning, flashing, and strobing lights in a rainbow of colours, dozens of mirrored balls that sent little stars spinning around the room, and the most hypnotic, powerful musical beat the young Saiyan had ever heard.

Vegeta was completely enchanted.

"Whoa..." Vegeta followed Raditz down the metal staircase and into the main area of the club, "where are we?"

"Powerhouse," Raditz sounded almost a bit disappointed, "it's pretty mainstream, but it's your first time and all."

"Mainstream?" Vegeta looked at Raditz, surprised by the choice of words.

"Yeah, they let pretty much anybody in," Raditz tilted his head up when he made eye contact with a bartender, "it's a good beginner-type club, y'know?"

"Um..." Vegeta wasn't sure if he should be offended, but found he was in far too good of a mood to feel anything close to irritation.

"Two fruit liqueurs, beautiful," Raditz pulled out his payment card and tapped it against a payment hub when prompted, "just run a tab all night, will you?"

"Sure, Raditz," the bartender smirked at Raditz and went to prepare the drinks.

Vegeta watched her, spellbound by her beauty. She was short and slim and pearlescent-skinned, with huge breasts barely contained in a skimpy black top. Her fine dark blue hair was pulled up into two large buns, and her flared silver trousers rode dangerously low on her hips.

When she returned with their drinks, Vegeta accepted and said with a growing smirk: "may I see your tits?"

Returning the smirk and finding the young man's polite phrasing to a vulgar request oddly charming, the bartender pulled down the front of her top, squeezed her arms together, wiggled in time to the pulsing music for just a second, and pulled her top back up. "Have a good time, baby," she winked at Vegeta, "don't get into trouble, now."

Utterly stunned by what he had just witnessed, Raditz downed his drink in a single gulp, a couple drops running down the corners of his mouth, and called out to the bartender as she went to tend to another customer. "Wait! We need a refill over here! Come back!"

Vegeta cackled and sipped on his drink. He'd never successfully convinced a woman to do that for him before- maybe this night would be the one to turn things around for him in that department after all.

After three hours and quite drunk in his quest to match Raditz' alcohol consumption (he'd had five drinks by this point) Vegeta had taken to a booth with the older Saiyan. They ordered a bottle each of fruit liqueur and a powerful, clear, neutral-tasting grain alcohol. He was drenched with sweat after dancing for so long, very disappointed that he couldn't match Raditz' superb dancing skills.

Still, he'd loved dancing to this music he'd never fully listened to before; perhaps it was the combination of alcohol, drugs, and atmosphere, but Vegeta was completely and gleefully lost in the endlessly shifting and evolving music. He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever felt so carefree and open, and he wanted the night to last a lifetime.

"Here," Raditz pulled out a dark vial and unscrewed it to reveal a minuscule silver spoon glued to the inside of the cap, already filled with a tiny bit of white powder, "a little in each nostril will do ya fine."

Without thinking, Vegeta snorted back a bit of powder into each nostril, instantly recognizing the numbness and rush that came mere seconds later. Another minute passed, and the woozy drunken feeling that had risked becoming overwhelming receded to the back of his mind. He felt alert, happy, and suddenly clear-headed.

"Learn to pace yourself with the booze and the drugs, and you can do this all night long. It's all about finding the right combination of fucked-up and functional," Raditz took two overflowing spoonfuls to each nostril, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching his nostrils closed between each snort.

"Sounds like you're an expert," Vegeta finished his sixth drink and refilled his glass with the clear spirit, "where'd you gain all this, ahem, knowledge?"

"I learned the ropes from Nappa. And watched a lot of these idiots when I started going out regularly."

"Uh-huh," Vegeta took a sip of the spirit and realized it burned like hell without any mixer, "any advice for your pupil, Raditz? Hmm? Since you're so determined to corrupt me."

Raditz cracked up laughing and filled his glass with more fruit liqueur. "Be nice to people, Vegeta. Sometimes the most efficient diplomacy comes in the form of a drink or a joint or a snort. Oh, and if for any reason you spill somebody's drink, be fast to apologize and offer them a new one- never, ever fight with somebody on this, even if they fucked up. Follow these basic rules and you'll do fine for yourself in this world."

A huge, lumbering figure approached the booth and squeezed in beside Raditz, who accommodated the figure before looking to see who it was. "About time, Nappa! And here I thought you were going to blow off the birthday party altogether!"

Vegeta now felt almost giddy. "You came after all, huh? Couldn't take the old man party any longer?"

"Nah, I went and won a bunch of money at the casino before coming to see what you two kids were getting in to," Nappa pulled two six inch tubes from a pocket in his armour and screwed the cap off one, extracting a huge hand-rolled cigar. He placed it between his teeth and slowly, almost lovingly lit it, took two huge puffs, and passed it to Raditz.

"Vegeta convinced a chick to show him her tits," Raditz puffed and sneered, "little man's got some game after all, Nappa! There's hope for him yet!"

Nappa laughed. "How the hell did you manage that one, Vegeta?"

"It's strange," Vegeta took the cigar and puffed, his head soon swimming in smoke and feeling the drunkenness return with a vengeance, "but I think you just have to be polite..."

"What?" Raditz' brow crinkled. "You mean like, be polite to a bitch?"

Vegeta took another drag and blew it at Raditz. He wasn't sure if he wanted another drink, or more of that powder, or a bit of both. The smoke, whatever it was exactly, was potent and seemed to grow more powerful by the minute.

Raditz shook his head at Vegeta. "You're a weird fucking dude, you know that, Vegeta?"

"Give me more of that stuff," Vegeta motioned for the vial at Raditz' place before refilling his glass with the clear spirit.

"He's taken to it all quite quickly," Nappa remarked, unsure if he should be concerned for the obviously intoxicated prince, "he sure is a quick study, Raditz."

Raditz passed the vial across the table and then finished another drink, unknowingly cueing Vegeta to consume his right away. "Well, he's had somebody good looking over him tonight."

Vegeta took two more small spoonfuls, closed the vial, and passed it back. He felt the numbness, but the wooziness didn't go away. He was very drunk, past a sort of no-point-of-return he could only vaguely recall Raditz warning him about, and it wasn't quite so much fun any more.

He watched Nappa and Raditz conversing, not really following what they saying and figuring out that the only way he could keep the two from splitting into four was to keep one eye shut.

Soon, whether it took seconds or minutes Vegeta couldn't determine, but he started to feel nauseous. He took a slow breath through his nostrils, trying to ride out the waves originating in his guts, and rubbed his forehead. Suddenly, he knew he had to find an exit, and with one eye shut he searched for a sign, finding a glowing green light hanging above the back door some twenty feet away.

"Whoa," Raditz looked at Vegeta, "you alright, kid?"

"Yeah..." Vegeta muttered, looking through the crowd at the door, "berightback," his stomach was kicking into high-gear now, refusing to hold its contents much longer, and the young Saiyan bolted from the booth, stumbling past the edges of the crowd with a hand clamped over his mouth and pushing through the door as fast as he could.

He practically collided with a dumpster and vomited into it right way, pulling away as best he could to avoid backsplash as it hit bags of trash a few feet down. He gasped for air, catching the rancid stench of rotting garbage, and threw up again. Finally, after three episodes of vomiting, each more painful than the last, Vegeta stood to his full height, wiped his mouth, and tried to get his bearings.

Now feeling both horribly drunk and coldly sober at the same time, Vegeta realized he was in a narrow alley, the main street some thirty feet away. When he tried the back door, he found it locked.

The dull throb of the music inside could be felt through the door, and Vegeta knew there was no way anybody would hear him knocking, nor did Nappa or Raditz respond to their scouters while out for the night.

Well, my night's over, thought Vegeta, making his way to the street so he could get home. He had no idea what neighbourhood Raditz had taken him to. 


End file.
